An unusual twist on the kind of Euro collaborations that have become familiar on the Scottish folk scene, often with Scandinavian musicians. 2Duos combines well-established pairings from Scotland and Germany as Aaron Jones and Claire Mann team up to good effect with Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz on a mixed set of songs and tunes from their respective home bases.

Jones and Walther offer strong and contrasting lead voices on a mixture of traditional and contemporary material, including Jones’ fine take on Richard Thompson’s classic ‘Beeswing’ and David Francey’s ‘Saints and Sinners’. The instrumental sets and accompaniments reveal a high level of skilful interplay, featuring Walther’s fiddle and accordion and Mann’s flute, whistles and fiddle alongside Jones’s bouzouki and guitar and Treyz’ guitar and dobro.

Kenny Mathieson - 11th June 2009

**** (4 stars)

An unusual twist on the kind of Euro collaborations that have become familiar on the Scottish folk scene, often with Scandinavian musicians. 2Duos combines well-established pairings from Scotland and Germany as Aaron Jones and Claire Mann team up to good effect with Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz on a mixed set of songs and tunes from their respective home bases.

Jones and Walther offer strong and contrasting lead voices on a mixture of traditional and contemporary material, including Jones’ fine take on Richard Thompson’s classic ‘Beeswing’ and David Francey’s ‘Saints and Sinners’. The instrumental sets and accompaniments reveal a high level of skilful interplay, featuring Walther’s fiddle and accordion and Mann’s flute, whistles and fiddle alongside Jones’s bouzouki and guitar and Treyz’ guitar and dobro.